STUDENT FEEDBACK ON ONLINE SUMMER …

STUDENT FEEDBACK ON ONLINE SUMMER COURSES

OFFICE OF ASSESSMENT OCTOBER, 2019

Introduction

In the summer of 2019, the Office of Assessment sent an anonymous survey to 651 undergraduate students were enrolled in at least one of 77 online summer courses taught by 52 faculty at SCU. The Office of Assessment sent a survey to students after completion of their summer online classes held during Sessions 1, 2 and/or Session 3A. Sessions 1 and 2 were held over five weeks, and Session 3A was offered over three-weeks. The survey asked students for their feedback on different components of the online course they took and their motivations for taking online courses. The same survey was also administered in 2015. Many of the items were taken or adapted from The Blended Learning Student Survey by Long Island University and The Blended Learning Toolkit, a project of the University of Central Florida (UCF) and the American Association of State Colleges and Universities (AASCU) with funding from the Next Generation Learning Challenges (NGLC).

In 2019, survey responses were received from 234 students. This report summarizes the survey results.

Affiliation of students

While the SCU Summer Program is open to students from other institutions, 99% of the surveyed students who took an online class were full-time SCU students. The majority of students (53%) were taking only one online class at SCU this summer, 33% were taking two, and 14% were taking three or more online classes. Most students (62%) who took an online class had never taken one for credit before; 17% of students had taken one, 9% of students had taken two, 5% of students had taken three, and 6% of students had taken four or more online classes for credit in the past. Of the students who took the survey, 1% were incoming first-year students1, 25% were rising sophomores, 31% were rising juniors, and 43% were rising seniors. Fifty-five percent self-identified as female; 39% as male; and 6% chose not to respond.

Students' experiences with online learning

Students were asked about their interactions with others in the online environment, ways in which the course components facilitated learning, and their overall perceptions of the course. Students were asked to indicate how much they agreed or disagreed with statements within each of these themes on a five-point scale. They had the opportunity to check "N/A" if a certain component (e.g., online testing) was not included in their course. The results show that students generally responded very positively about the components of the course. Responses from 2015 are also included for comparison.

As can be seen in Table 1, students felt their online course offered them opportunities to interact with other students, and with the professor. Students surveyed in 2019 responded even more affirmatively about the course opportunities for interaction and communication than did students sampled in 2015.

Table 1. Student perceptions of interaction/communication in online courses (percent)

1 Only incoming first-year students who are student-athletes are allowed to enroll in summer courses. 1

Interaction/Communication

I was able to share ideas with other students on a regular basis

Sharing and discussion in the online environment worked well

The course offered ample opportunities for interaction and communication from student to

student

The course offered ample opportunities for interaction and communication from student to

instructor

The course offered ample opportunities for interaction and communication from instructor to

student

The technology used in this class allowed me to participate at least as fully as I would have done

in a classroom-only class

Year

2015 2019 2015 2019 2015 2019 2015 2019 2015 2019 2015 2019

Strongly Neither Disagree/ Disagree Disagree nor Agree

11%

14%

7%

8%

9%

9%

8%

9%

9%

15%

Agree

40% 40% 44% 35% 47%

9%

10%

43%

6%

18%

39%

8%

10%

33%

7%

15%

38%

5%

10%

32%

13%

18%

39%

15%

8%

32%

Strongly Agree

35% 46% 38% 49% 29% 38% 37% 49% 40% 53% 30% 44%

Students were also generally positive about the ways in which the structure of the course facilitated learning. Students in 2019 also responded more positively about their learning than did students surveyed in 2015.

Table 2. Student perceptions of learning in online courses (percent)

Learning

I clearly understood the components and structure of the course

Online learning modules helped me understand the course material

Online testing was a good way to evaluate my understanding of the material

Watching recorded lectures helped my understanding of the material in this course

Online assignments or activities were helpful in understanding the course content

The online components of this course worked well to promote learning

Year

2015 2019 2015 2019 2015 2019 2015 2019 2015 2019 2015 2019

Strongly Neither Disagree/ Disagree Disagree nor Agree

6%

9%

7%

8%

7%

11%

8%

8%

12%

26%

12%

10%

12%

22%

11%

14%

5%

11%

8%

5%

6%

12%

11%

4%

Agree

48% 35% 45% 37% 40% 39% 40% 36% 42% 37% 46% 37%

Strongly Agree

37% 50% 37% 48% 22% 38% 26% 38% 42% 50% 36% 47%

2

Students report high levels of satisfaction with their online course; as noted above, students in 2019 report higher levels of satisfaction compared with their peers in 2015.

Table 3. Student satisfaction with online courses (percent)

General Satisfaction

Year

Strongly Neither Disagree/ Disagree Disagree nor Agree

Agree

Strongly Agree

I would take another online course at SCU in the 2015

9%

future

2019

5%

I would recommend taking online courses to a

2015

8%

friend

2019

7%

2015

9%

Overall, I am satisfied with this online course

2019

8%

The time I spent online would have been better

2015

29%

spent in a face-to-face class

2019

37%

14%

35%

42%

8%

30%

57%

13%

36%

43%

8%

30%

56%

8%

39%

44%

7%

33%

53%

35%

20%

16%

32%

16%

15%

Students were also asked about how helpful certain elements of their online course were for their learning. Their responses reinforce the importance of developing quality online learning components and students' ability to work at their own pace in the online experience. (See Tables 4-6.)

Table 4. Student perceptions of helpfulness of elements related to interaction/communication (percent)

Interaction/Communication

Online interaction with students (e.g., discussion board, chats, e-mails)

Online interaction with faculty (e.g., discussion board, chats, e-mails)

Year

2015 2019 2015 2019

Not at all helpful/ Moderately Very slightly helpful helpful helpful

Extremely helpful

22%

30%

29%

19%

15%

30%

24%

31%

16%

22%

33%

29%

10%

23%

28%

39%

3

Table 5. Student perceptions of helpfulness of elements related to learning (percent)

Learning

Online material (e.g., demonstrations, videos and simulations, links to relevant websites) Ability to review online presentations multiple

times

Online examinations

Year

2015 2019 2015 2019 2015 2019

Not at all helpful/ Moderately Very slightly helpful helpful helpful

Extremely helpful

8%

18%

37%

37%

6%

18%

27%

49%

6%

17%

25%

52%

5%

13%

32%

50%

19%

22%

32%

27%

12%

19%

37%

32%

Table 6. Student perceptions of helpfulness of elements related to flexibility (percent)

Flexibility

Ability to work at my own pace Flexibility of being able to complete

assignments any place/ any time

Year

2015 2019 2015 2019

Not at all helpful/ Moderately Very slightly helpful helpful helpful

Extremely helpful

6%

20%

25%

49%

6%

12%

25%

57%

7%

10%

26%

57%

4%

9%

25%

61%

When teaching online, it can be especially important to schedule in opportunities for students to provide feedback on the course materials. Students were asked whether they had such opportunities to give the instructor feedback. Twenty percent said that they were not given that opportunity, 44% said that they had one or two opportunities to give feedback, and 37% said they were given a number of opportunities to give feedback.

Preferences for online/hybrid formats

It is interesting to learn more about students' preferences for online/hybrid courses versus face-to-face courses. Students were asked first which class format they preferred for courses taken during the summer. As the figure below indicates most prefer entirely online or a predominantly online course with some face-to-face contact. The percentage of students who preferred entirely online courses was greater (by 11%) than in 2015. In future iterations of the survey, it would be helpful to know if the students who prefer some face-to-face contact are within driving distance of SCU during the summer and are available to come to campus.

4

Preference for class format in summer

70%

60%

50%

59%

40% 48%

30%

20%

24%

10%

18%

16% 16%

9% 4%

3% 3%

0%

Entirely online Extensive web, Equal mix Mostly face-to- Entirely face-

some face-to- online & face- face, minimal to-face

face

to-face

web

2015 2019

Students responded differently when asked about which class format they preferred for courses taken during the regular school year, showing a much stronger preference for entirely or predominantly face-to-face courses.

Preference for class format in regular school year

40%

35%

30%

33% 34%

36%

25%

27%

28%

20%

21% 15%

10%

5% 3% 4%

7% 7%

0%

Entirely online Extensive web, Equal mix Mostly face-to- Entirely face-

some face-to- online & face- face, minimal to-face

face

to-face

web

2015 2019

Students were also asked about their interest in taking a class during the regular academic year that blended online learning with face-to-face instruction (meeting, for example one day a week face-toface and the other day online). Forty-three percent of students said they would be very interested in this, 30% said that they would be somewhat interested, 20% were not very interested or not interested at all, and 7% stated that they were unsure.

In Their Own Words: Student responses to open-ended questions

Open-ended questions were included in the survey providing students the opportunity to expand upon their experiences. Student responses to the open-ended questions were examined and the results are presented in the following sections.

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